Dissertation Completion Fellowships-Fall 2016

February 22nd, 2016

Northeastern University Dissertation Completion Fellowships

Purpose: Graduate Dissertation Completion Fellowships provide a one-semester stipend to outstanding Ph.D. candidates who would benefit from the financial security and the freedom to focus on their final semester writing. The award is one semester of support and the awardees are expected to be graduated at the end of the semester in which they hold the DCF.

Eligibility: Currently enrolled Ph.D. students at Northeastern who have completed all course requirements including comprehensive exams and dissertation proposal defense (if required), and are nearing completion of their dissertation. The fellowships will be awarded on a competitive basis. Each student must provide the following application materials:

Letter of application for the fellowship including information about past and current funding from NU or external sources

Description of the current state of the student’s dissertation along with a detailed timetable for completion

Copy of an approved dissertation prospectus (if required) and evidence that a substantial amount (at least 2/3) of the writing has been completed in draft form

Letter of recommendation from the dissertation advisor that describes the importance of the work and indicates when the dissertation will be completed (the letter must be enclosed in a sealed envelope and signed by the recommender) – additional letters are not encouraged

Expected date of dissertation defense (highlighted in bold font)

Curriculum vitae

Documents (other than the letter of recommendation) must be submitted in a single PDF to the Dissertation Completion Fellowship form on the Northeastern University Research website. The form will be accessible starting February 22nd.

The Office of the Provost will form a subcommittee to review applications according to the overall strength of the materials submitted and with regard to the likelihood of timely completion of a quality dissertation. Application packages that are not complete or are late will not be considered and it is the applicant’s responsibility to provide all required materials.

Award: The stipend for one semester will be the larger of either $8,000 or ½ the current academic year stipend rate for the department where the student’s primary affiliation resides. In addition, both the student’s one- credit registration fee and health fees will be covered by the award for the semester in which the student holds the fellowship. The award must be used during the semester for which it is awarded and may not be deferred. Students are expected to complete their dissertation during the period of the award and may not hold any employment, internal or external, or awards during that term including outside fellowships, research assistant appointments, or teaching assistant appointments. Ph.D. students that are holders of the University Excellence Fellowship are eligible for this award. For students on federal loan, a concurrent DCF award may result in an adjusted loan amount. Please consult the Student Financial Services Offices (sfs@neu.edu) for additional information.

The application deadline for Fall 2016 awards is March 25th, 2016 at 5:00pm.